Sumomo's Training Journey
by Ability King KK
Summary: After meeting a strong trainer, Sumomo convinces him to train her so she can become a better Gym Leader. Watch as Sumomo and her reluctant new sensei travel across the regions. NOT A PAIRING FIC.


**This probably won't be a long fic. Maybe under ten chapters. To be warned, this fic contains a fan character. Japanese names will also be used.**

**-:-**

The man could feel his eye twitch in annoyance as he walked through the streets of Veilstone City. He could sense that someone was following him and has been following him for a while now. The real problem was that he did not know who was following him. This was just as annoying as when people stare at him for being dressed as a samurai.

Deciding to find out what his pursuer wanted, the man made his way to the abandoned warehouse district. That way, no one else would get involved.

Entering the warehouse district, the man just stood there and waited for his pursuer to make their move. He didn't have to wait long, when he felt something coming towards him very fast. Launching his arm out, the man grabbed at the object, getting a loud yelp in return. Looking at what he caught, the man's eye started to twitch again when he noticed that his pursuer was nothing more than a small pink-haired girl, who was currently hanging upside down since he was holding her up by her ankle.

"Is there a reason you were following me and then tried to kick me?" questioned the man.

"I wanted to test you and see if the rumors were true!" replied the little girl with a big grin.

The man raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What rumors?"

"There are rumors that Hoenn is home of a trainer dressed as samurai who is very strong! Since you're dressed as a samurai, I wanted to see if you were the real deal."

"…First off, there are other trainers out there that are dressed as samurai. We do live in Japan after all. Secondly, there are many trainers out there who are much stronger than I am."

"But they don't have a Lucario like you do!"

Now the man was intrigued. This girl must have done research or something to know that he had a Lucario. He gently set the little girl down so he could properly talk to her. Height-wise, she came up to his stomach. He also noticed that she was barefoot, wore a blue tank-top, white pants that looked more fitting with a judogi or karategi, and a bandage across her nose.

The man ran a hand through his black hair. "Okay, what does having a Lucario have to do with anything?"

The little girl took out a Poké Ball and sent out the Pokémon it housed. The Pokémon was a blue and black bipedal jackal-like Pokémon with a metal spike on both of his paws and one on his chest.

"See! I have a Lucario too! My name is Sumomo and I run the gym here in Veilstone!"

"…Really now? So you want to battle against my Lucario to see who is stronger?" questioned the man as he sent out his own Lucario. His Lucario though had a scar over his right eye.

Sumomo shook her head. "Nope! I want you to train me so I can become stronger and become a better Gym Leader!"

The man sweatdropped at that. "…What? I can't train you! From what I know, the Veilstone Gym is a Fighting-type gym. I'm more for Steel-type Pokémon, with Lucario being my second strongest."

"_Rah,"_ grunted the man's Lucario, nodding in agreement.

"B-But you must at least know how to use Lucario's Fighting-type skills, right? Please teach me!"

The samurai sweatdropped again. He may have been a Steel-type trainer, but he knew just as much about the other types each of his Pokémon had so he wouldn't be unbalanced. He couldn't always rely on the Steel-type to get through his trainer career.

"Can't you find someone else to train you? I know there are other Lucario trainers here in Sinnoh."

The little pink-haired girl pouted at this. "I tried. There's this one guy named Gen who has a Lucario, but I can never seem to find him. Then there's Shirona…but I don't really like her."

"Trust me, you aren't the only one who doesn't like her," replied the man with a grimace. He then let out a sigh. "So you really want me to train you, huh?"

Sumomo nodded her head feverishly. "Hai! I want to become stronger!"

"You should already be strong if you're a Gym Leader."

The young girl looked down in sadness. "Actually, I just recently became Gym Leader and I'm considered the weakest of all of the Gym Leaders in Sinnoh."

The man had to bite back a groan. He really hoped he wouldn't regret his decision. Letting out a sigh, he answered. "Fine, I'll train you."

Sumomo's pink eyes lit up as she jumped forward and glomped the man around his waist. "Yay!"

"Lesson one though, always make sure you at least know someone's name before you ask for such favors…or give them hugs."

"Well then what's your name?" asked Sumomo as she looked up at the man. She hadn't let go of his waist though.

"The name's Kane."

Sumomo gave Kane a grin. "Well then, Kane-sensei, let's go to the gym and get started on training!"

Letting go of his waist, Sumomo grabbed Kane's hand and started to drag him out of the warehouse district and towards the gym with their Lucario following close behind.

The two soon made it to the gym and the little fighter led the samurai inside and to the battlefield.

"Nice place," said Kane as he looked at his surroundings.

"Shall we get started, Kane-sensei?" asked Sumomo as she and her Lucario took their positions on the battlefield.

Kane nodded in consent. "Hm, Lucario, you know what needs to be done."

"_Rah."_

Kane's Lucario walked over to one side of the battlefield and beckoned for Sumomo's Lucario to come at him, which he did. While the two Lucario fought, Kane walked over to Sumomo.

"Ano, shouldn't we be giving commands to our Lucario?" questioned the confused girl.

"That'll be later. Right now, we're going to train ourselves," replied Kane as he took his sword off of his belt and set it against the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"If you wish to get stronger, you must train both your body and your mind. We shall start with the body. Come at with everything you got," explained Kane as he got into a fighting pose.

"I thought you said you were a Steel-type trainer. Why do you look more like a fighter now?"

Kane gave off his own grin. "You were right when you said I should know how to use Lucario's Fighting-type. I learned how to fight like this so I could help him train. Now come at me!"

With a nod of determination, Sumomo dashed forward with a punch aimed at Kane's head. The samurai blocked the attack though with his hand. She then tried to get him with a roundhouse kick, which was blocked with his forearm.

The two continued on like this for almost two hours, with Sumomo on offense and Kane on defense. Soon Sumomo started to feel exhausted.

"Why…why haven't you…you fought back?" panted Sumomo.

"I never said I'd fight back. The whole purpose is to make you stronger and the first thing to do is to see your skill level," explained Kane as he handed his student a bottle of water.

"How come you're not hurt from my attacks?"

"Remember, I train Steel-types. When I train, I train with an intensity that others don't have. In that process, my body became somewhat similar to Steel-types in the sense that most attacks don't cause me harm. Your training will be complete when you can actually injure me in a fight," explained Kane further.

Sumomo was surprised to hear such a thing. She didn't even think something like that was possible. Now she wanted to see if Tougan was like this since he's been known for his defensive skills. That would have to wait though as she let out a yawn due to her exhaustion.

"Looks like someone needs sleep," pointed out Kane.

"I can keep going," stated Sumomo, who was swaying and looked ready to drop.

Rolling his eyes, Kane walked over to the girl and grabbed her just as she fell forward. Lifting up the now sleeping girl in his arms, he turned to the Lucario.

"Oi, where's her room at?"

Sumomo's Lucario let out a sigh as he led Kane to Sumomo's room. Once there, Kane placed the little girl on the bed and tucked her in, leaving her Lucario to keep an eye on her. When that was done, Kane left the room and made his way to retrieve his sword.

"Rah?" questioned Kane's Lucario, wondering what they were going to do next.

"I guess we continue training the little one," said Kane with a sigh as he sat down against the wall. "I said I would and I'm not going to break any hopes she has."

Lucario nodded in understanding before Kane returned him to his Poké Ball for the night. Before he went to sleep himself, Kane had one final thought.

'_I'm nineteen and I have a twelve-year-old apprentice. How did this happen?'_

-:-

Morning came and Sumomo woke to the sound of the chirping Starly. Looking around, the little fighter noticed that she was in her room. She soon got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to eat whatever she had for breakfast, even though it was most likely going to be very little. When she entered the room, she saw Kane cooking something on the stove.

"Kane-sensei? What are you doing here?" questioned Sumomo, surprised to see the samurai.

"I'm cooking breakfast. I was surprised though that there wasn't much food here, so I went out and bought as much as I could and filled the fridge and pantry."

Sumomo went over to the fridge and indeed found that it had food in it. The same went for the pantry. She didn't know what to say. Without warning, she glomped onto Kane like she did yesterday when he accepted to be her sensei. Luckily, he wasn't near the stove.

"Arigatou, Kane-sensei!"

Kane raised an eyebrow at her actions. "…You're welcome, Sumomo. Tell me though, why was there barely any food here?"

The pink-haired girl blushed in embarrassment. She didn't want to tell her new sensei the reason why she had no food in her gym.

"I don't want to say," said Sumomo, hiding her face in Kane's green kosode.

This just made Kane worry more. While he wanted to know the reason, he decided to let it go for now. If she wanted to tell him, she'll do so in her own time.

"Alright then. Here you go."

Placing her breakfast on the table, Kane noticed how her eyes lit up when she saw the traditional Japanese breakfast. He was even more surprised when she sat down and inhaled the food and then asked for seconds…then thirds…and then fourths.

"That was delicious!" exclaimed Sumomo, pieces of rice stuck around her mouth.

"…It must have been if you ate that much," said Kane with a deadpan tone. Sumomo could only flash him a grin. "Go wash up so we can begin your training."

Once Sumomo got cleaned up, she met Kane in battle area ready to start.

"Ready Sensei!"

"Good. Fair warning though, we're going to train as much as possible today as tomorrow I'll be heading to Sunyshore," stated Kane.

The little fighter's eyes widened at that. "You're leaving? Why?"

Kane scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I should have mentioned that I was only in Sinnoh to visit a friend back in Oreburgh. I was on my way to Sunyshore yesterday so I could catch a boat leaving for Kanto."

"But I can't get stronger with only two days training!" cried Sumomo with a pout. She then had an idea. "I know! Why don't I travel with you! That way you can keep training me!"

Kane gave the girl a blank look. "Are you insane? I can't just take you with me! Besides, you've got a gym to run."

"So? The Hearthome City Gym Leader, Melissa, always takes time off from he duties to go on training journeys. If she can do it then I can do it too!"

"And if she jumped off of Mt. Coronet would you do that as well? Do you even have anyone to watch over the gym while you're gone?"

"Of course I do!" exclaimed Sumomo.

She grabbed Kane's hand and started to drag him outside. She continued to drag him across Veilstone to a large ranch on the other side of the city. When they entered, they saw a purple-haired young man taking care of some Pokémon.

"Reiji!" called out the Barefoot Fighting Genius, making the man turn around.

"Oh, hello Sumomo-chan," greeted Reiji with a smile. He then noticed Kane. "And who is this?"

"This is my new sensei, Kane. He's going to take me on a training journey," said Sumomo, excitement in her eyes and voice.

"I did not agree to that," deadpanned Kane.

Sumomo though kept going as if Kane said nothing. "So I was wondering if you could keep an eye on my gym while I'm gone."

Reiji let out a few chuckles. "I don't know, Sumomo-chan. I guess I could, but only if Kane-san agrees to take you."

Kane cast Reiji a glare while Sumomo gave the samurai a pleading look.

"Please, Kane-sensei!" pleaded Sumomo, unknowingly giving the Lilipup eyes.

Kane could feel his eye twitch in annoyance. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. "Fine, you can travel with me."

"Yay!" exclaimed a happy Sumomo as she glomped the samurai again, almost knocking him to the ground.

"Sumomo-chan, if you want to travel, you might want to go and start packing for your journey," said Reiji.

"Right!"

She let go of Kane and ran back to her gym pack. With Sumomo gone, Reiji turned to Kane.

"So why exactly are you taking Sumomo on a training journey?"

Kane explained to the Pokémon breeder how exactly he met the little girl and how he got dragged into training her. Reiji could only laugh at that.

"It's not that funny," muttered Kane.

"Considering that it involves Sumomo-chan, I'd say yes it is. Just take care of her, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to the kid."

With that, Kane left the ranch and headed to the gym to see if Sumomo was ready. When he arrived, he had to sweatdrop at the sight of little Sumomo with a large backpack strapped to her back.

'_How the hell can such a little thing carry that much?'_ thought the samurai.

"I'm ready, Sensei!"

"You don't need that much! Just bring the essentials!"

Having helped Sumomo repack, the two now stood at the city exit, ready to travel to Sunyshore.

"Come on, Sensei! We need to hurry if we're going to make it."

Sumomo once again grabbed Kane's hand and started to drag him down Route 214. As he was being pulled along, a worn out Kane had only one thought.

'_Note to self, never have kids.'_

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**Why did I start this fic? I started this fic to expand my skills by writing for different characters than I'm used to writing for. Why did I choose Sumomo as the subject? She's just so cute :3**

**While this fic is set in the animé-verse, there'll be some attributes from the manga in here as well as shown when Sumomo was embarrassed when Kane questioned why there was no food in her kitchen.**

**As for Kane, while I know most people hate fan characters, it has been a while since I last wrote for the character and this fic seemed to be a good place to put him in as a reluctant participant in Sumomo's journey.**

**Translations:**

**Sumomo – Maylene**

**Reiji – Reggie**

**Kosode – It's sort of like a jacket worn by samurai. Think of the black overcoat worn by Soul Reapers in _Bleach._**


End file.
